In the world of premium travel credit cards, you’ll typically get the best redemption value by transferring your points to travel partners.
My favorite premium travel card is the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which earns Ultimate Rewards points. You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to certain travel partners, like United.
Then, you can use those United miles to book airfare directly through United’s website.
This is my preferred method for getting maximum value out of my credit card points.
This is true regardless of the credit card that you have.
What you’ll notice is that most premium travel credit cards, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum card, have a designated set of travel partners.
If you are in the market for a new premium travel credit card, here’s a credit card tip that sometimes gets overlooked:
Pay close attention to the travel partners for each card.
Then, commit to a single airline and prioritize flying with that airline whenever possible.
Why commit to a single airline? Isn’t it better to have options?
Not necessarily.
For most of us, we are better off committing to a single airline (and hotel brand) to maximize rewards.
Today, we’ll discuss some of the main reasons why you may want to commit to a single airline and base your credit card choice on that airline.
To begin, let’s look at the travel partners for the two most popular premium travel cards, the Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum.
Sapphire Reserve travel partners include United and Hyatt.
Here is a list of the Sapphire Reserve travel partners:
- Airlines:
- AerClub, loyalty program of Aer Lingus
- The British Airways Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Air France KLM – Flying Blue
- Club Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Hotels:
- IHG One Rewards
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
The bottom line: if you prefer to fly United or stay at Hyatt hotels, as I do, the Sapphire Reserve is the card for you.
American Express Platinum travel partners include Delta and Hilton.
For comparison, here is a list of the American Express Platinum card’s travel partners:
- Airlines:
- British Airways Club
- Cathay
- Delta Sky Miles
- Emirates Skyward
- Etihad Guest
- Flying Blue
- Iberia Club
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- SAS EuroBonus
- Singapore KrisFlyer
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Hotels:
- Hilton Honors
- Marriot Bonvoy
- Radisson Rewards
If you prefer to fly Delta or stay at Hilton hotels, the American Express Platinum is a better card for you.
Pay close attention to who the travel partners are.
In my opinion, what matters most is who a credit card’s travel partners are, not the number of travel partners.
In this context, it’s helpful to think of credit card travel partners in terms of “quality over quantity.”
Why quality over quantity?
As you can see, there is some overlap in transfer partners when it comes to foreign airlines. Both programs also allow transfer to Marriot Bonvoy.
The thing is: I have my doubts that the average flyer will receive much benefit from these foreign airline transfer options.
For starters, the major airlines like United and Delta have alliances with the major foreign carriers. You can easily book international flights through the big US airlines.
Besides that, it takes a lot of effort to research and become an expert in maximizing transfers to these foreign carriers.
Yes, it’s possible. But, is it worth it for the average traveler?
I don’t think it is.
Of course, I can say that based on personal experience.
For a time in my life, I did put the effort in to become an expert in point transfers.
I used to exert significant effort to maximize point transfers.
However, those days are over.
My favorite strategy was to transfer my Chase Ultimate Reward points to British Airways so I could then book domestic flights on American Airlines metal.
It worked well for flights to Florida and Colorado because the British Airways redemption chart at the time was based on distance flown instead of the actual cost of the ticket.
Confusing, huh?
It took time and effort, but the tradeoff was worth it at that point in my life. However, the program changed and this particular advantage went away.
If you’re interested in playing the points game, there are endless websites dedicated to these kinds of strategies. Just know that it takes effort and time.
What I’ve come to realize is that most of us don’t have the time or energy to become credit card transfer experts.
That’s why I recommend you focus on the quality of the transfer partners instead of the quantity.
On top of that, I recommend you focus on one airline.
Select one airline to be your primary option.
When you look at the above lists, you’ll notice that each credit card is partnered with a major US domestic airline.
The Sapphire Reserve partners with United (and Southwest, if that’s your preference).
The American Express Platinum partners with Delta.
My recommendation is that you commit to one of these major airlines and then choose the credit card that matches that airline.
How can you select the right airline for your situation?
If you live near a United hub, go with the Sapphire Reserve.
If you live near a Delta hub, go with the American Express Platinum.
I live in Chicago, which is a major United hub. It’s an easy choice for me to prioritize United.
The advantages of committing to a single airline include more free flights and status.
When you commit to a single airline, you have a couple of main advantages when it comes to rewards.
1. You’ll earn free flights faster.
The first advantage is that you’ll earn free flights faster.
That’s because you earn miles whenever you buy a ticket and fly with that airline. The more you spend, the more miles you’ll earn.
This is like supercharging your credit card points balance.
For example, if you buy a $500 plane ticket on United with the Sapphire Reserve, you’ll earn 2,000 points (4 points per dollar spent on travel).
For that same ticket, you’ll also earn 2,500 United miles (5 miles per dollar spent). If you have status with United, you’ll earn even more. More on that below.
Assuming you transfer your Sapphire Reserve points to United, that’s a total of 4,500 miles earned on this one purchase.
If you stay committed to United and repeat this same process for even a few flights, you’ll have enough points and miles to trade in for a free plane ticket.
On the other hand, if you bought tickets on multiple airlines, the odds are you won’t have enough points and miles on any single airline to get yourself a free ticket.
You may end up with an equivalent amount of points and miles, but they’ll be too spread out over different carries to be of use.
This is one of the main reasons why I prefer to stay loyal to a single airline. I can more quickly earn free flights by focusing on a single rewards program.
2. You have a better chance of earning status.
The second big advantage of choosing one airline is that you have a better chance of earning status.
With status, you’ll benefit from earning more miles, better boarding groups, free checked bags, better seat assignments, and a chance at free upgrades.
For today’s conversation, let’s focus on the part about earning more miles.
When you earn status on United, you earn bonus miles for every dollar you spend. The bonuses range from 2 to 6 miles per dollar spent depending on your status level.
Even the lowest bonus level of 2 miles per dollar is the equivalent of 40% more miles earned. Using our example above, you would earn 3,500 United miles on a $500 ticket purchase (up from 2,500).
If you bounce from airline to airline, you’ll have a hard time earning status.
You may not care about free bags or upgrades, but you will be sacrificing miles and eventual free flights if you bounce around.
If you don’t already have it, now is a great time to consider the Sapphire Reserve.
Chase is currently offering a sign-up bonus of 125,000 points for the Sapphire Reserve, the largest bonus ever offered.
That translates to $2,562.50 in value, according to The Points Guy.
I recently wrote about why I’m keeping the Sapphire Reserve in my wallet, even with the higher annual fee:
The bottom line is that I will still earn a ton of points each year, not to mention the other benefits, that the Sapphire Reserve will remain the primary card in my wallet.
Check out my post to learn how I evaluate credit cards and how I came to the no-doubt conclusion that the Sapphire Reserve is still worth it for me.
Is there value in keeping both your Sapphire Reserve accounts open?
After I wrote that post, a number of readers (with spouses, partners, kids, etc.) reached out asking if there is value in keeping separate Sapphire Reserve accounts.
It was such a good question that I wrote a full post addressing it:
The short answer is that my wife and I each had Sapphire Reserve cards before we got married. We eventually closed one of the accounts and kept the other one open.
Today, we still each have a physical Sapphire Reserve card through the “authorized user” option on just the one account.
Keeping just one account between the two of us saves a bit of money, but more importantly, keeps things much easier for us.
As I mentioned, I value simplicity right now.
I recommend most couples with two accounts do the same.
Nonetheless, there may be valid reasons why you would want to keep both accounts open.
For my complete thoughts, and the reasons why you might want to keep both Sapphire Reserve accounts open, check out my post here.
Keep it simple by selecting one airline that lines up with your credit card.
There’s no need to overcomplicate premium travel rewards credit cards for the average lawyer or professional.
Pick your favorite airline. It’s probably the one with a hub nearby.
Then, pick the credit card that lines up with that airline.
Fly with your preferred airline whenever possible. Use your credit card to buy the flight and earn points.
I live in Chicagoland, so it’s an easy choice to fly United and use my Sapphire Reserve.
What is your preferred airline?
Does it line up with your current travel credit card?
Let us know in the comments below.
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